This article originally appeared in USA Today February 19, 2026.

The past few years have been tough for criminal justice reform. While the 2010s saw a slew of smart state and federal policies, making communities safer and saving taxpayer money, concerns over crime in the 2020s put further progress on hold.

Many Americans worry that more reforms will make crime worse, but in some key areas, the opposite is true. Now it’s time for states to fix broken business licensing systems, so that people who have made mistakes can get good-paying jobs and avoid falling back into crime.

Licensing isn’t what most people think about when it comes to criminal justice reform, but it’s one of the biggest barriers ex-offenders face. Virtually every state restricts people who have committed crimes and paid their debts from obtaining licenses to work.

Licensing is required for many types of work

About 30% of workers in America need licenses to do their jobs. The list includes everything from doctors and teachers to real estate agents and drywall installers, with hundreds more professions in between.

These licenses often seem unnecessary or excessive in their requirements: Why should someone pay hundreds or thousands of dollars or get years of extra schooling to become a barber, florist or truck driver?

The problem gets worse when you factor in restrictions on people who have run afoul of the law. A third of American adults have a criminal record, and when they can’t find jobs, they find it a lot harder to get their lives back on track.

Licensing is a big reason why about half the people in state prison wind up back behind bars within five years of release.

California shows how absurd this licensing regime can be. Over the years, the state has trained thousands of prisoners with low-level felonies to help fight wildfires. However, once those people are released from prison, state rules prevent them from becoming firefighters because of their criminal records.

In other words, they’ve been trained for jobs they can only hold while locked up. That doesn’t improve lives or help public safety. It doesn’t make any sense at all.

Former criminals must have chances to reenter society

The obvious solution is to break the barriers standing between ex-offenders and jobs. To their credit, some states have recognized the importance of reforming licensing for people with criminal records.

My home state of Michigan enacted a law in 2020 making it harder to deny licenses to people with criminal records.

As I show in a new study, this reform allowed people like Mike Grennan to become a licensed builder, something that used to be off-limits due to his struggles with addiction and a resulting felony. Grennan now has his own construction company and has turned his life around completely.

Yet even in Michigan, the barriers are still too high for people with criminal records. The 2020 reforms don’t apply to every licensed industry. Licensing boards can still consider convictions that have nothing to do with their particular line of work.

Lawmakers should close these loopholes without delay.

Every job should be held to the same standards, opening the door to opportunity for those who have made mistakes in life. The state should only deny a license if a criminal conviction bears directly on that job.

For instance, someone convicted of financial fraud shouldn’t be given an accounting license. However, someone who broke a drug law shouldn’t be denied a construction or barber’s license.

A driving under the influence conviction should be taken into consideration for someone wanting to drive a truck, but not for someone wanting to go back to school to become a teacher.

Reforms are needed not only in Michigan, but in virtually every state in America. This isn’t just about jobs. It’s about justice.

There is nothing right about killing careers for those who have paid their debts to society. It’s also a matter of common sense, because stifling work can push people back toward crime.

Criminal justice reform may not be popular these days, but principled state lawmakers should take up the challenge nonetheless. They don’t just have an opportunity to improve lives and public safety. They have an obligation.

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